The period of the Gregorian reform from 1074 to 1140 witnessed intense conciliar activity. The Roman Pontiff attempted to initiate disciplinary reform within dioceses by means of local councils. In order to achieve this restoration of ecclesiastical discipline, the bishops were assisted by archdeacons and archpriests. Two dimensions of the activity of the archdeacon can be identified : as a direct collaborator of the bishop (as in the early centuries) in accomplishing the reform, and also as the head of a district which became increasingly common. The conciliar texts in the aforementionned period address to a lesser extent the archpriest, a dignitary of lesser importance. The A. proposes that these conciliar canons suggest a mentality that the archdeacons and archpriests acted as intermediate powers between the bishops and the parish clergy.